Louwman Automotive Museum

[IceBone]

Sylvestermeet 2018 happened and one day we found ourselves in the Hague to visit the Louwman Automotive Museum (as the title says). I won't paste every single photo in here as there's close to 200, but here's just a taster in no particular order:

The rest can be found here. Many more gems!

 

[CraigB]

Wow! Quite a varied and extensive collection. I'm afraid I don't know what half of those cars are.

 

[IceBone]

A bunch are from brands that don't exist anymore. There was a plaque next to each of them and I'd have taken a pic of that if I actually cared about such things. I just care about the pretty.

 

[CraigB]

Understandable.

 

[DanRoM]

Damn you @IceBone! You are far better at this than I am.

I've also been to this museum this winter, but your Flickr album covers the place quite well. Therefore I'm only posting some additional stuff.

 

[Matt2000]

The Briggs & Stratton Motor Wheel is particularly interesting, it makes sense that an invention would exist to add an engine to an existing vehicle but then who has an engineless 'car' to begin with?

The swan cars are pure nightmare fuel.

 

[lip]

^ I think the Briggs & Stratton was right in the middle of the progression from a carriage with a horse to a carriage with a motor. Like the paddle wheel was in the middle of the progression from pure sailling ships to steamers with a more effective screw propeller.

It's such a interesting topic or timeframe, like when the the airplane came up, nobody knew what a light and sturdy and easy to control plane should look like, everybody just went forward with their own ideas by trial end error.

 

[DaBoom]

The swan cars are pure nightmare fuel.

Just looks-wise, or did you check out the story and some specs as well? I'll quote the museum, as I'm sure I'd remember things wrong.

This Brooke Swan Car is truly extraordinary. It was the creation of the eccentric and wealthy Scotsman Robert Nicholl ‘Scotty’ Matthewson, who lived in early 20th century Calcutta, the capital of what was then British India

The bodywork represents a swan gliding through water. The rear is decorated with a lotus flower design finished in gold leaf, an ancient symbol for divine wisdom. Apart from the normal lights, there are electric bulbs in the swan’s eyes that glow eerily in the dark. The car has an exhaust-driven, eight-tone Gabriel horn that can be operated by means of a keyboard at the back of the car. A ship’s telegraph was used to issue commands to the driver. Brushes were fitted to sweep off the elephant dung collected by the tyres. The swan’s beak is linked to the engine’s cooling system and opens wide to allow the driver to spray steam to clear a passage in the streets. Whitewash could be dumped onto the road through a valve at the back of the car to make the swan appear even more lifelike.